New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has lambasted the International Cricket Council over its handling of super overs in Twenty/20 World Cup matches as well as the dead ball law when a bowler breaks the stumps in his action.
Such incidents cost New Zealand in each of its super eight games. It tied with Sri Lanka and the West Indies, resulting in a super over, while England bowler Steven Finn's stump-breaking farce resulted in New Zealand being docked six runs.
There is no guarantee it would have won the England match with the extra runs, while the shared points from the ties would still have meant New Zealand missing the semifinals. However, it would have changed the dynamic of the group.
New Zealand has received the Spirit of Cricket award four times in nine years at the annual ICC awards functions - the equivalent of highly commended - and rarely speaks out about things that hinder it. It is seen as "the Kiwi way".
Hesson has opted for a refreshing tack to combat injustices to his team, backed by sound justification.
"I can't work out why, in a non-elimination game, you need a super over," Hesson said. "I have also never worked out how you can kick the stumps over and get a benefit. If that doesn't change they [the ICC] have got rocks in their head.
"I'm not sure how they came to that conclusion. Basically we [all coaches and captains] came to a meeting pre-tournament and they told us what was happening. There wasn't a discussion.
"I don't blame Steven Finn but they've made one rule for one person. He also did it once [for a warning] but not twice against Sri Lanka. It would have been interesting to see the response if they had hit a boundary."
Finn's stunt became tiresome by its third occurrence against New Zealand, when James Franklin timed a ball through the covers for four, only to have it retracted.
Hesson argues the law should never penalise the batting side, as it does now.
The law says the first time such an accident occurs should be exonerated; any subsequent stump upsets result in dead balls.
The ICC logic was that it helped the batsman because of the supposed distraction any dismantling of the opposing stumps creates during delivery. Franklin's four helps extinguish that theory, and it could have been made worse if he had hit the boundary during the death overs to win the game.
Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori backed Hesson's assessment.
"You shouldn't be able to penalise the batsman for a good shot, because then people start figuring out ways to kick the stumps down if they don't think it's a good ball.
"I can understand the rationale to penalise the bowler but there has to be balancing act. Maybe if it's a wicket, it's a dead ball, but if someone hits a four it seems unfair because, obviously, it hasn't distracted the batsman.
It's quite demoralising ... It changes the complexion of an over. A boundary might take you from three to seven off the over with a ball to go.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand women's team believes it has found some momentum at the Women's Twenty/20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and hopes that continues against England in the semifinal tonight.
The White Ferns finished second in their group to set up a semifinal showdown with England, which topped the other group.
The Ferns opened their campaign with a defeat at the hands of the West Indies but comfortably beat both South Africa and Sri Lanka to ensure progression.
"We're starting to gather some momentum," captain Suzie Bates said. "We didn't start well against the West Indies and we really had to look at our game ...
"Although we haven't played as well as we could have, there have been some real positives. I think we've been great with both bat and ball at times, but it's just about finding that consistency."
England is undefeated in the tournament, with wins over Pakistan, India and Australia. The winner of the match will face Australia or the West Indies in the final ohn Sunday.
Andrew Alderson flew to the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka courtesy of Emirates Airline (www.emirates.com/nz)
